’70s soul meets melodic minimalism in ‘Drunk’ by Thundercat

“Drunk” could in fact make you feel a little woozy. The latest album from Grammy winning bassist/singer Stephen Bruner – under his alter ego Thundercat – features 23 tracks with many of them coming in at three minutes or less. The collection is an often irreverent but also a truly heartfelt addition to the current renaissance of black pop and R&B.

Thundercat clearly has his late ’70s mentors, as there are echoes of early George Duke, Quincy Jones, Rufus, Steely Dan, and of course Funkadelic on this record. But that vibe gets filtered through the current style of melodic minimalism, and the mastermind pulls in a variety of flavorful guests including Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, Wiz Khalifa and Kamasi Washington. He also gets absolutely un-ironic contributions from Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins.